Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Just like everyone else, I was part of the workforce for over 20 years. With gusto and ambitions, I held steadfast focus to build my career based on my dreams. Today, I have finally called it quits and I am enjoying the fruits of my labor.

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Despite driving our camper from Auckland down south to Rotorua, then the seaside city of Napier and across the Ruahine Range to Waitomo Caves, we did not managed a round the North Island adventure within the 10 days. As we improvised our drive, we had to forego Coromandel, Palmerston North, Wellington, Wanganui, New Plymouth and Cape Renga. It would have taken us at least a month to truly enjoy a complete and relaxing drive around the North Island. Nonetheless, it was one great holiday!

Saturday, November 26, 2011

Do you know that Gratitude is an essential attitude to achieve Happiness?

Living with thankfulness can improve our life. Being grateful keeps us committed to ourselves and taking full responsibility of all our actions, reactions and the effects without the blame game dramas. There's no self-pity, resentment or jealousy but in their place, loving kindness, compassion, equanimity and joy.

"We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures."

~ Thornton Wilder ~

Another week is up for my personal reflection of all the blessings that have been bestowed on me and it is liberating to share my random list of gratitude;

1. I am grateful for the short relaxing break in Penang over the last weekend where lo kong and I enjoyed a fair bit of gluttony.

2. I am grateful that lo kong did pretty well at the Penang Bridge International Marathon and I am thankful for the improvements to his legs as there is less trauma felt on his knees this time. I hope he'll do better at the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon next week.

3. I am grateful for the opportunities and the good health to travel frequently.

4. I am grateful my son is coping well with his on-going internship.

5. I am grateful for the peace and quiet at home, the cool breeze and cloudy skies each day and the on-going inspiration for my writings. I am thankful that I am able to do things at my own leisure, in my own space and anyhow I designed.

"As I go through all kinds of feelings and experiences in my journey through life -- delight, surprise, chagrin, dismay -- I hold this question as a guiding light: "What do I really need right now to be happy?" What I come to over and over again is that only qualities as vast and deep as love, connection and kindness will really make me happy in any sort of enduring way."

Friday, November 25, 2011

If you're struggling to meet your aspirations, despite being inspired and knowing exactly what to do, yet things still do not seem to fall in place, you may be self-sabotaging yourself. How can this be possible? What really happens when you sabotage yourselves?

Firstly, let's not forget the power of your subconscious mind. You create your own circumstances through your subconscious mind. Most persons have been conditioned to think and react negatively whenever uncertainties loom ahead due to an instilled fear, fear of the unknown, fear of failure, fear of regret, fear of change and so on. Subconsciously, you are frightening yourselves into self-sabotage!

Before anyone can overcome self-sabotage, there's a need to explore your thoughts, emotions and actions. You need to understand where these fears are coming from and how they are influencing your actions or inactions. Once you have determined the causes, you can then take steps to prevent it from happening in the future.

As an example, you want financial prosperity. You are inspired and know exactly what to do to energize yourselves and the infinite intelligence sends you leads in the form of opportunities and ideas. But subconsciously, you may be frightened by the thoughts of failure or change. You understand the risks you have to take, yet you become weakened in your actions. You react too slowly that the opportunities slipped away.

On the other hand, you may be frightened by the thoughts of regrets or missed opportunities, so you just jump right in without any evaluation. You react too quickly that you failed to realize whether you have the know-how or if you are prepared for the long haul.

As another example, you may dream of a successful relationship. You energized yourself well that you found yourself in a relationship that you always dream of. But no matter what you do, it still did not last. Perhaps subconsciously you fear making the wrong choice. Even if the relationship hits the mark, you belief the next relationship could possibly be better.

You have no awareness that there are destructive efforts from within your subconsciousness due to the uncertainties in your mind caused by your doubts and fears. Prepare to ask yourself what you are afraid of. Explore any possibilities from your past to present to help you get out of the self-sabotage rut. When you have established an insight into your inner fears, you will rein full control of your thoughts, emotions and actions. You will be able to create the outcomes the way you want and stop the self-sabotage.

I asked myself this same question very often, “Am I sabotaging myself?” Regretfully I am only human and sometimes the answer turned out to be a resounding Yes!

While I've worked hard to remove the negative spell of the past, sometimes certain situations or persons still trigger the unwanted memories and emotional reactions. It can feel as if I am on “auto-pilot” with little control over my reactions of anger, sadness, fear, guilt or even, jealousy. I have allowed myself to sabotage my own desires, denying myself from what I am capable of achieving in the shortest of time whenever I lose control.

If I do not fight the self-saboteur in me at the soonest and continue to allow myself to succumb to the failure, I am pretty sure I will be returning to the state where I first began. I must reclaim my control over my subconscious mind. I need to strengthen my psychological immune system by making peace with my past. That is why it is important to take regular time-outs to reflect, forgive and forget. You could actually liken this to a form of self-detoxification.

Thursday, November 24, 2011

What is keeping you from living the kind of life you are dreaming of having? You can use the law of attraction to take advantage of your self-talk to manifest all the good things into your life.

Self-talk is constant mental chatter you have with yourself. It is the perpetual driver of your mood and behavior. Most often than not, your self-talk drives into the negative mode due to the guilts of your past or the anxieties about your future. Indulging in your negative self-talk will rob you from living the kind of life you are dreaming of having. It actually tells you the half-truths and untruths about you and destroys any seed of hope that you may otherwise have to strive for your dreams.

In order for the law of attraction to work for you in the manner you truly desire, it is time to replace your negative self-talk with statements reworded into a positive affirmation. Positive self-talk changes your thoughts to the positive. It can greatly improve your confidence and change your life!

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Days turn to nights and back again to the day in an ever revolving cycle. What decisions we made today determines our tomorrow. Today soon becomes a past as tomorrow arrives delivering the effects of today's actions. Let's cherish today and make the best of it for a better tomorrow!

Monday, November 21, 2011

Everything has come into place. My faith, confidence and perseverance has paid off. I have achieved success in many areas of my personal development and spiritual growth. I have began to harvest the fruits of my labor and I am expecting more to come from my new seedlings!

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Ahhhhhh ... very quickly another weekend arrives for me to count my blessings. The moment this entry is published, I am already on my way from the Penang International Airport to my hotel by the beach on the Pearl of the Orient. Yup! Will be staying here for 2 nights as the Penang Bridge International Marathon 2011 will be flagged off early ... very early ... in the wee hours of Sunday morning. Lo kong and friends will be running in the full marathon. Me as usual ... snap snap snap!

We cannot show our gratitude without sharing it with someone ... anyone ... because when we show our gratitude, it is our way of sharing our joy and our appreciation of the treasures we have been blessed with everyone. Just as William Arthur Ward said, "Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it."

Just to sum up the week quickly, here is my random list of gratitude:

1. I am grateful for the safe journey to this beautiful island, Penang.
2. I am grateful to have won a prize (don't know what yet??? so looking forward to it!) from one of my blogger friends ... the 'Globetrotter'.
2. I am grateful for the heavy assignments received for the past few days despite having lost several files due to my own silly mistake.
3. I am grateful and motivated by the positive feedback received for my assignments.
4. I am grateful for the increased traffic to my blog and all the new friends I've recently made over Facebook and Twitter.

Friday, November 18, 2011

Most of us don’t know what we don’t know. Unless we can allow ourselves to be as open-minded as possible to acknowledge new ideas, concepts or practices made available to us through whatever channels, we will reject each and every one of them instantaneously. We will not give them the due consideration much less to put in a little effort into research or to try and seek clarifications. Does our religion teach us to be so rigid and averse towards anything that we have not yet began to understand?

I am a firm believer in the law of attraction but there are friends and family members who find my belief an entire hogwash or absurdity. Some give me a funny look while some even cringed as they opined this universal law to be in direct violation of their religion. To believe in the law of attraction is to offend their God.
The law of attraction is not a religion or doctrine nor does it have any affiliation with any cults. It is simply a natural law of the Universe just as is the law of biogenesis, the law of gravity, the law of cause and effect or the topmost, the law of logic. All this natural laws exist because there is one Source of all things imposing them on the Universe. How then are we offending our God?

There is uniformity with all the natural laws of the Universe. They work together throughout the Universe right from the past to the present and everyone from every race and religion continue to look forward to the future without any doubt these natural laws will ever change or cease. We trust in the orderliness and continuity of the Universe. Whether we like it or not, it shows everyone actually believes in these natural laws from the Source of all things and of course, they include the law of attraction too.

The law of attraction is all-inclusive as it works irrespective of whichever religion you subscribe to. We may be a Christian, Muslim, Jew, Buddhist or even an atheist but applying this natural law in our daily life does not make us any less of a believer in our religion. In fact, it can help to enhance our belief system as all the natural laws are created by the Source of all things for the benefit of everyone. It is not biased towards anyone from however background we are coming from. It works equally for everyone.

The law of attraction is God’s law and applying it in our daily life is to receive all good deserving things that our God has prepared for us. To share it with others who have yet to understand this law is to spread the good of our religious beliefs.

“I believe in God, but not as one thing, not as an old man in the sky. I believe that what people call God is something in all of us. I believe that what Jesus and Mohammed and Buddha and all the rest said was right. It's just that the translations have gone wrong.”

Thursday, November 17, 2011

The law of attraction is always at work with God … the Source of all things, to manifest good for the well-beings of everyone. It is how the Source of all things is giving you your very own Divine Power to create your life through your own choices of how you feel. Remember, how you feel determines how your energy vibrates to the Universe.

Your Divine Power is the source of infinite abundance. Through centuries, the great sages and saints of all religions have learned to rely on their Divine Power to attained not only wisdom , enlightenment in some cases but also taking care of the food, clothing and shelter needs of their human bodies. They had complete trust in the Source!

To work with the law of attraction is to return to the Source of all things in order to receive your Divine Power. The Source is always open twenty-four-seven. You have to trust that you can go to the Source for anything you desire at any time. Your Divine Power does not mean that you are more powerful or better than God but you are an extension of the Source of all things who deserves all things. If you do not believe you deserve all the good things in life, the law of attraction will not bestow good things on you.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

After lo kong called a shortwhile ago, I just realized that we will be flying to Penang this weekend for a short break while lo kong gets to indulge in his favorite pastime ... running a marathon. Yup this weekend is the Penang Bridge International Marathon.

We would have been flying into Bangkok had the Standard Chartered Bangkok Marathon not been flooded out by the prevailing floods there. It's a bit of a damper since it's been several years since I last visited Bangkok. Anyway, it'll still be there next year same time! Alternatively Penang still makes a great short getaway for a foodie marathon ... asam laksa, char-koay-teow, ice-kacang, nasi kandar, sotong panggang ... oooooo yum yum!!!

While updating myself on our travel plans, it looks like Penang will be kicking off our travelling again that will continue right into the middle of 2012. Here's where I'll be heading soon after Penang:

Monday, November 14, 2011

A visit to Hamilton Gardens in Hamilton, New Zealand had been the first on the itinerary when you had taken delivery of our campervan. However, due to an unforseen delay we only managed to pass this inland city on the banks of the Waikato River in the dark. The bright lights of the city brought more determination and eagerness to visit on our way back from the south.

Unfortunately, timing was again an issue when we arrived at the Hamilton Gardens. As winter had just ended and spring was just beckoning, there was hardly much of an attraction to keep us excited at the botanical gardens. Faced with bared soil, replanting and closed doors at some of the areas, it was a dampening trip to the botanical gardens.

It's not to say it is not a great tourist attraction. This botanical gardens actually attracted more than 700,000 tourists each year. It is all about the timing. Regretfully, we were about 10 days too early for the Tulip Festival at the gardens which would have begun on 17 and 18 September. It would have been a colorful experience. Anyhow check out our short visit to the botanical and the city itself.

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Another week just breezed by but regretfully I have been slightly indisposed or should I say, 'been under the weather' the whole week.

On Tuesday, I had undergone a colonoscopy as prescribed by my doctor due to intestinal cramping. It was then discovered that I have diverticulitis, an inflammation and infection to one the diverticulum in my intestine. No worry as it is common and treatable with a strong dose of antibiotics. Unfortunately, the antibiotics comes with a range of side-effects which includes fatigue, headaches, giddiness, double-vision and trembling which depleted my energy level to the lowest.

I am glad this is just a temporary situation and I should be up and about soon within the next week. Meanwhile I am grateful that my overall colon is in good health and condition. According to my doctor, I do not have that many diverticulums in my intestine as with the majority of people but just a little unfortunate to have an infection that's not so common among the majority of people ... duh!!! I guess it's 'give a little and gain a little' ... cheers!!!

There are recent studies that found the inductions of habitual activities such as 'counting one's blessings' or 'practising gratitude' can successfully raise a person's positive mood and well-being. It had been reported that people who conduct certain gratitude exercises are healthier and feel better about their lives, make more progress towards their goals, are more optimistic and are more likely to help others. Here are some suggestions that could help us increase the level of our gratitude experiences;

1. Pay attention to good things, large and small. This often requires intentional thought because bad things are more salient to us than good things. We have to work a little to give positive thoughts the space in our brains.

2. Pay attention to bad things that are avoided. Just like when I tripped and fell flat on my face during one of my evening runs around the neighborhood. Thankfully, I only suffered minor cuts and bruises without any serious injuries such as broken bones or teeth.

3. Practice downward comparisons. That means thinking about how things could be worse, or were worse, or are worse for someone else. I don’t particularly like the idea of making myself feel more grateful by thinking of others who are worse off than I am. But it doesn’t have to be interpersonal. We can use downward comparison by remembering our own times of adversity or being aware of adversity avoided.

4. Establish regular times to focus on being grateful. Gratitude is a character strength that can be enhanced with practice. So practice.

5. When facing a loss or a difficult task or situation, remind ourself to be grateful both for what we haven’t lost and for the strengths and opportunities that arise from facing difficulties. It had been studied that benefit-seeking and benefit-remembering are linked to psychological and physical health. Benefit finding involves choosing to focus on the positive aspects of the situation and avoiding the feeling of being a victim.

6. Elicit and reinforce gratitude in the people around us. Negative moods are catching, but positive ones can be as well. Sometimes having someone else see what is good in our own life makes it visible to us.

Gratitude is a character strength admired around the globe. To increase gratitude, a good first step is to notice the good things that happen to us, large and small. These practices can help us take fewer blessings for granted.

“Real life isn’t always going to be perfect or go our way, but the recurring acknowledgement of what is working in our lives can help us not only to survive but surmount our difficulties.”

Friday, November 11, 2011

Do you believe that laughter can have an effect on your body? In recent decades, there have been many research carried out on the effects of laughter on the body and these are some of the interesting information found.

• Laughter can affect the blood flow – it helps your blood vessels to behave normally as they expand and contract easily.

• Laughter can affect the immune response – it raises the level of infection-fighting antibodies to boost to your immune system.

Laughter is a natural process and when you laugh, you change physiologically. You stretch the muscles throughout your face and body. Your pulse rate and blood pressure goes up and you breathe faster, sending more oxygen to your cells and tissues. You will begin to notice your feelings of anxiety giving way to optimism and euphoria.

Without the scientific vocabulary, most people will not deny the fact that laughter does help to alleviate their negative senses, even if it is only for a short duration. Laughter can be a great resource to accelerate the law of attraction by raising your energy level to enable the manifestation process to become easier, faster and seamless.

“At the height of laughter, the Universe is flung into a kaleidoscope of new possibilities.”

~ Jean Houston

When you laugh, your brain responds by opening up to new perceptions. Your amusement creates your energetic state of being joyful that dispels anger, heals pain and releases stress. You are sending a signal to your brain that you are in a state of happiness and relaxation. Correspondingly, your brain will shift your negative thoughts and emotions to the positive. The law of attraction will respond to your renewed vibration and deliver more of the same in return to you.

It may not be possible to raise a laugh when the most adverse situations are happening in your life. As an adult, you live in a world of seriousness that comes with the responsibility towards yourself, family, friends and work. The heavy burden of seriousness breeds worry, frets, rigidity, anger, low self-esteem and could sometimes lead to depression.

The law of attraction says, “like attracts like.” Therefore during these situations, you are more likely to be vibrating at negative frequencies that attract the same adverse situations again and again. However said, these situations are incapable of controlling your face and bodily muscles. Laughter can be a powerful tool to fight against negativity because you can’t be happy and sad at the same time. It clears your mind to heal your vibrations that you sent out to the Universe. It restores your hope for the goodness to flow into your life again.

Laughter heals

It doesn’t hurt any worst to put aside your adverse situations temporarily and tune to something amusing to create the laughter that will turn your vibration into positive frequencies. Think of something silly, make monkey faces at yourself or watch a comedy video to start a smile on your face. You will gain clarity of mind that allows the law of attraction to deliver the solutions or answers you seek. Having solutions can change your mood and energy level to follow through with all the necessary actions. It is good to always remember this equation:

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Have a little faith in yourself … that’s what you must have to accelerate the law of attraction!

It cannot be denied that some people do achieve great success without knowing much or anything about the law of attraction, but they intuitively use it correctly. They did not know what rules they had to follow but essentially they had faith in themselves. They believe in anything and everything that they do.

Having faith in yourself builds a confidence to tackle whatever you decide to do. Confidence means a total freedom from doubt and sets the law of attraction into motion. Your confidence fuels your actions beyond any obstacles that may stand in your way. Without a doubt in your mind, you will be propelled towards the great realm of attraction.

So, do you have faith in yourself? Remember, faith in yourself can help you move towards what you want to get out of life.

In my lover’s eyes when he hears a song that reminds him of why we didn’t meet before,
In knowing that the pain will always go away no matter how hard you try to make it stay,
In a hug that could not have come at a better time.

In the moments you watch your kitty with his head upside down after a night of carousing,
When your dog licks you even though you left him inside all day long,
In the hummingbirds’ march to find nectar in an empty feeder you scramble to fill.

When the ocean is so cold you scream with excitement over the energy it gifts you,
Early morning cold, quiet and new,
Twilight on the edge of a cliff waiting for the stars to brighten.

A cup of tea on the porch before the sun rises over the mountains,
The rush of feeling that sun brings as it hits your eyes,
Jasmine when you cannot see the plant itself.

LOVE is feeling all things fully,
LOVE is awareness,
LOVE is in the moments between thoughts,
LOVE is endless.

Mariel Hemingway is an actress, best-selling author, health and wellness professional, and leading voice in the Body Mind Spirit movement. You can find out more about Mariel at her website: www.MarielHemingway.com & on twitter at: www.twitter.com/MarielHemingway

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

My late Dad suffered a stroke when I was still in my primary school days. He had diabetes and high-blood pressure but he loved the bottle much more. Once in his drunken stupor, he fell and created a big hole in the wall. In the end, he was bedridden for more than 10 years with my Mom dutifully taking care of him till the end. Years later, my late Mom suffered from increased senility and succumbed to stomach cancer at the age of 80.

This is the medical history of my family and each of my siblings has already made it onto the high-risk list including myself! I've got high cholesterol and I'm diabetic. So imagine how alarmed I've been eversince one of my previous blood test showed an above normal reading for one of the cancers markers. My CA 19-9 was somewhat above the recommended range.

Finally, I did a colonoscopy today and to my relief, the doctor said that my colons are fine except for a small inflammation somewhere near my stomach. The doctor prescribed 2 type of antibiotics and I will have to see him again next week.

Colonoscopy ... this is how part of my digestive system looks like!

It was indeed a long day. I had fasted for longer than the required 12 hours period prior to the procedure and before the procedure could be done, I had to flush my bowel with the given laxative preparation. All in all, I think I went to the loo 10 times before I underwent the procedure.

Anyway whatever the length of wait I had been through, it was well worth the relief I'm feeling right now!

Monday, November 7, 2011

The Waitomo Glowworm Caves in the North Island is uniquely known for its population of these curiously luminescent glowworms. These glowworms can astutely spin a nest out of silk on the ceiling of the cave and then hang down. When the larva glows to attract prey into its threads, correspondingly the roof of the cave naturally concocts a resplendent “star-system” of its own.

After a short brief at the start of our tour, we entered into the cave that was almost the same as the earlier 2 caves. Our guide was an old man probably in his late 50's with years of experience about the caves. Again we were not allowed to take photos in this cave as we listened and followed him. Soon we came to a dock where it was totally dark. It was quite terrifying actually because it was really pitch black that I can't see even my hands. I could hear water sound as we lined to get onto the boat for a river ride. I could feel myself getting a bit off-balance in the complete darkness as we get onto the boat tethered to the dock. Once all settled in, the guide pushes the boat off the dock and we started to glide along the river. My eyes had since adjusted and I could look through the darkness.

Then we were told to be completely silent as we glide on. All I could see was blue lights overhead. They twinkled like stars. Like a canopy of tree branches, the lights are like a tapestry, woven together. Somehow they looked like blue-lit clovers in the sky to me.

It was truly an awesome experience although we could not capture any photos inside. Even if we were allowed, it would have been a real challenge to capture any pictures in the that darkness.

This is the second caving tour of the day ... the Ruakuri Caves, the longest underground tour in Waitomo.

According to Maori legend, Ruakuri Cave was first discovered 400-500 years ago by a young Maori hunter spearing birds for food. A pack of wild dogs inhabited the entrance way and the cave was subsequently named Ruakuri ('rua' meaning den and 'kuri' meaning dogs) Cave. The cave entrance was used by Maori as a burial ground (wahi tapu) and it is this sacred area that has now been protected with the construction of the spiral entrance a safe distance away. That's where we entered for our tour.

The tour was more exciting than Aranui within a beautiful cave with breathtaking galleries and passages of stalactites and stalagmites, easy walkway on well-formed paths and boardwalks with lighting wherever necessary. The best part of the tour was getting up close and personal with the glowworms. Imagine at one point we had to hollered at the top of our lungs to make them glow as bright as possible. You see, they are receptive to noise as it indicates source of food is close.

Photography was prohibited in some areas and even if it was not, taking photos in these darkened caves was really a huge challenge for photography novices like us. Check out whatever we could shoot at the Ruakuri Cave here.

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Every weekend I will make it a point to give thanks for all the wonderful gifts and blessings that have come into my life. Some repetitive some small some big but they are all worth being thankful for. Exploring the practices of gratitude and giving is an important aspect not only for the law of attraction to work for us but also as a great reminder to us to not forget that all of life is a gift. Let us cherish them!

1. I am grateful that the Lord walks with me each day.
2. I am grateful that I am growing in my spirituality.
3. I am grateful that I have found increased calm in me.

4. I am grateful that my sub-consciousness continues to expand into the Universe.
5. I am grateful for all the wonderful thoughts and ideas that have been delivered to me.6. I am grateful for the consistent and continuous energy to focus on my life purpose.
7. I am grateful for all the unwavering support from my family and friends.
8. I am grateful I am living the life I designed for myself and my family.

With gratitude comes the spirit of giving. With a giving spirit we achieve peace. When there is peace in us then there will be happiness. In the spirit of giving, let us share our gifts with the world and spread the joy!

Friday, November 4, 2011

Abraham Hicks said, “Within the seed of your desire is everything necessary for it to blossom to fulfillment. And Law of Attraction is the engine that does the work. Your work is just to give it a fertile growing place in order to expand.”

There is an interesting analogy between planting a flower seed in your garden and planting the seed of your desire within you. They may be of totally different circumstances but yet the similarity is hard to be dismissed. Planting both seeds will require your patience, care and attention. It would be unthinkable to just plant it and then leave it to its own devices. Just like you, it needs food too. It has to receive the right amount of water, sunshine and air for its chemistry of life to proceed.

All seeds know exactly what they have been programmed to grow into and this is pretty much the same with your seed of desire. The law of attraction is your garden. It is where you can plant your seed and patiently await its growth into the reality that you so wished for. Once the seed has been planted, its chemistry to grow is activated by your focus, feelings and faith. Your focus becomes the water it needs, your emotions is its sunshine while your faith is the air it shall require to complete the whole manifestation process to bring what you want into your life. The law of attraction is actually not complicated at all.

The law of attraction is all about ‘like attracts like.’ Therefore whatever you focus intensely on coupled with your feelings and your faith will be returned to you in the same magnitude. The more you focus on it, the more your sub-consciousness will be expanded into the Universe. When planting the seed of your desire, you create a sense of eagerness and anticipation in you which are good positive feelings that magnetized your thoughts. You will be moved into taking inspired actions that engage your undivided attention, lively imagination and feel good feelings.

Some seeds grow tall and healthy while some may not. A cold and unfertile soil is the most common cause why seeds failed to germinate. This pitfall is due to your lack of focus which ultimately results in frustrations and disappointments. It is important to realize that these are the direct opposites of the thoughts that you truly want but nonetheless, these negative thoughts continue to magnetize your thoughts all the same. In a real garden, you could easily see them as the fungi, maggots and insects that attack the flower seeds. If these garden pests are not dealt with once and for all, failure after failure continues no matter how many seeds are planted in your garden.

Gardening in the law of attraction is a beautiful step towards achieving the blooms that you want in your life. You have to understand that the Universe needs time to deliver them to you. You don't need to have green fingers. It just needs your patience, your inspired efforts and your unwavering faith. Just like the little flower seed, your desire will soon germinate from the ground and bloom into a beautiful flower. Just do not give up on yourself.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

You have sown the seed of your desire. Now the law of attraction needs you to nourish it while the Universe does it work!

You have used your mental, emotional and physical energies to sow the seed of your desire in a fertile ground, that’s You. Have faith and while patiently waiting for it to germinate and grow abundantly, give your seed the care and attention it deserves to ensure it grows strong and healthy. You need to water it constantly with positive vibes in order to reap a great harvest.

“Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant.”

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Upon arrival at the Waitomo i-Site, we excitedly purchased the combo package as planned to explore all 3 caves at Waitomo at NZ$89 per person. It would have been more expensive to visit only one cave at NZ$161 per person. All the 3 caves are at different locations and as each cave has its own tour schedule, we had to ensure we juggled the timing correctly so as not to miss the connecting tours and waste our time. First on schedule was the tour to Aranui Cave which began at 10am.

Aranui Cave is a magical, mystical place that is steeped in Maori myth and legend. It is set in the Ruakuri Scenic Reserve, 5 minutes drive from the Waitomo Glowworm Caves. It is named after Ruruku Aranui, the local Maori man who first discovered this previously hidden gem back in 1910.

Aranui Cave has a natural cave entrance and is the smallest and most delicate of Waitomo's three main caves. As a dry cave without a river running through it, it houses very little life past its entrance. However, just inside the entrance is a colony of native New Zealand cave wetas and further into the cave is the most beautiful collection of stalactites, stalagmites, flowstones and decorative formations.

This is my poem written in general to everyone who is seeking change in their lives but may be held back by fear ... the fear of the unknown, the fear of losing familiar grounds and the fear of failure. Welcome change my friend and have faith for it can fortify your mind to forge ahead.